Dry-pipe valve.



A. J. LGEPSlNGER.

DRY PIPE VALVE.

APPHCATJON FILED NOV.H'.1 JIO.

1,1 96,874. Patented Sept. 5, 1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET I WITNESSES. lNvENTcJR.

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A. J. LOEPSINGER.

DRY PIPE VALVE.

APPLICAHON FILED NOV-17. i910.

1,1 96,874. Patented Sept. 5, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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ATTORNEY.

ALBER .rjiionrsmcnit, or 'rnovmnncn, RHODE ISLAND, Assmnon 'ro enivait u. rmnnx-rmcuisnnn COMPANY, or NEW YORK, N. Y., a CORPORATION orivnw To'dll ibltom it concern PATENT OFFICE;

DRY-PIPE vALvn Specification of Letters ratent. Patented I Y. Y Application filed novmbei-i'z, 910. lSeria l N6. 592,810;

: Be it known that I, ALBERT J .Loarsiivorii,

' of the city and county of Providence and State of Rhode-Island, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in .Dry- Pipe Valvesyand I- do hereby declare the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a" part of the, same, -to be a full, clear, and exact. descriptionthereof.

Dry vpipe-"valves for. use in automatic sprinkler systems comprise' a water valve and an air-valve, and are ordinarily so constructed that'the water-valve will be held closed against the water-pressure in the supply-pipe by, air--i'n the distributing pipes at a pressure-materially less than the pres sure Tot the water'in thesup'ply-pipe, In

some cas'es the mechanical advantage necessary to secure this result is obtained by makin the air-valve, that is, the valve which is su jectedto the.air-pressurein the distributingpipes,' of greater area than the water -'valve; in 'other' such ,mechanical advantage is" obtained by the interposition of a lever or a system of levers between the airvalve and the water-valve.

' In both cases the dry-pipe valve structure is necessarily' large and cumbersome and of such a vsize that the valve cannot in many cases for lack 'of room he convenientlyinstalled in-the, lace desired, In the case of the diiferentia 'valve the undue size of the structure is due to the necessarily large diameter of the air-valve required, while in the case of the lever valve, the size is due, to the presence of the leveror levers and the necessary interposition thereof between the air valve and the Water-valve. Both kinds of dry pipe valves are'also, by reason of their construction, necessarily expensive, and of such cost as to in many cases preclude their introduction.

The object of the present invention is to -producea dry pipe valve which shall be simple and correspondingly cheap to con-- struct, and which shall also be comparatively small in size, and. so that the structure as a whole will occupy a materially less space than the dry pipe valves as heretofore constructed. 7 I To that end the invention consists primarily in so arranging the air valve and the valve that each of them closes the waterway'whe seated, and in mounting said valves to swing about a COm-mOIILCQIilTGE- IO- cated outside of the-waterway and with theaxis of the air valve located at angreater distance from said common center: than .the

axis of the water valve,'whereby" there will be a correspondingly greater] leverage through which the' air pressure acts, as

compared with the leverage'through which the water pressure acts.

' Two forms of' valves embodying the invention are shown in the drawings. In-the first form the air-valve and the water-valve,

together with the seats therefor, .arearranged in difi'erent lanes and .at'an angle to each-other; In t e other 'form-theairvalve and the water-valve are arranged in the same plane, but said valves and :the seats-' therefor are arrangedeccentric to each other. Inboth of these forms of valves.- it f will be seen that the air valve is of larger diameter and thus hasja-greaterareathanl the water-valve, and so that in each form of Referring to the drawings, Figural-is a hereinafter described and longitudinal sec'tionalview of one form. of :v

dry pipe valve embodying the-invention; Fig. 2'is a. corres onding'sectional-view of another form of the invention; and Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line of Fig. 2: 1

Referring to the construction shownin Fig. 1, the valve-casing comprises two parts 1 and 2, the abutting faces of which are formed at an angle to the axis of the waterry pipe valve embodying way, as shown, the two parts being secured together by bolts 3, The part 1 of the valve casing'is provided with an'in'let opening 4 adapted to communicate with the water supplyp-ipe, and the part 2'is-provided with an outlet opening 5 adapted-to communicate -with the riser of a sprinkler system; Theinlet opening is provided withja valve-seat i 6 for the water-valve 7, while the part 1 of the valve-casing is gularly arranged va valve 9. Each of these valve seats surrounds the waterway,'which is therefore closed by both valves when seated;

provided 7 with an. an-

ve-seat 8 for the airvalve and tending to open t le-same.

When the air-pressure in the system becomes reduced below the predetermined point, as by the opening of one or more sprinklers, and so that such air-pressure is no longer able to hold the water-valve closed, the water-pressure acting upon'the water-valve will serve'to open the same, and in thus opening, the water-valve and the air-valve will both be caused to swing about a common center and in so swinging will be moved to a position wholly to one side of the water-way, and so as to leave a free and unobstructed .passage for the water in flowing to the sprinkler system. As the watervalve and air-valve are thus swung about a common center, the hook or latch 16 automatically engages successively the teeth 15,

and so that said;.latcl1 will serve to hold the valves in their ppen position and to pre vent their being accidentally closed.

In both of the constructions shown, as will be seen, the air-valve? and the watervalve are connected together and mounted to swing about a common center, and in" both constructions the axis of the air-valve is at a greater distance from said common center than'the axis of the water-valve, and

so that consequently there will be a correspondingly greater leverage through which the air-pressure acts, as compared with the leverage through which the water-pressure acts, and so that, by reason of the greater leverage for the air-valve thus provided the water-valve will be held closed by an airpressure in the system correspondingly less than the water-pressure acting on said water-valve and tending to open the same.

While in both of the constructions shown the area of the air-valve subjected to the air-pressure in the system is materially larger than the area of the water-valve sub- -jected to the water-pressure in the supplypipe, and sothat there is thus present, to

assist in holding the water-valve closed, such differential area of the air-valve, in addition to the differential leverage referred to, it will be seen that by reason of such differential leverage the area of the air-valve may be materially lessened, as compared with what would be required if such 'difl'erentialleverage were not resent. As will be seen, the size of the va ve structure as a whole, including the valve-casing, is accordingly much less than has formerly been required, and so that such valve structure may be installed in places where prior valve structures could not, by reason of their size, be located.

It will be further seen that by the location of the common center for the air-valve and water valve below the valve-seat for the water-valve, the space required for the valve or valves to swing in is lessened, and the size of the valve structure as a whole still further reduced.

It will further be seen that with the constructions shown and described the employment of levers interposed between the airvalve and the water-valve is dispensed with, thereby not only reducing the size of the valve structure, but materially reducing the cost and expense thereof.

\Vliat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

1. A dry pipe valve comprising an air valve and a water valve arranged to close the waterway at each valve and transmit pressure from one to the other when seated, and valve-carrying means mounted outside of the waterway to swing about a center with respect to which 'the air valve has greater leverage than the water valve.

2. A dry pipe valve comprising an air valve and a water valve arranged to close the waterway at each valve and transmit pressure from one to the other when seated, the area of the air valve being greater than that of the water valve, and valve-carrying means mounted outside of the waterway to swing about a center with respect to which .the air valve has greater leverage than the water valve.

3. A dry pipe valve comprising an air valve and a water valve arranged to close the waterway at each valve and transmit pressure from oneto the other when seated, said valves being arranged at an oblique angle to each other, and valve-carrying means located outside of the waterway and mounted to swing about a center with respect to which the air valve has greater leverage, than the water valve.

4. A dry pipe valve comprising a casing, an arm pivotally mounted therein, outside of-the waterway, an air valve carried by said arm, a water valve carried by the air valve, and valve seats at each of which the waterway is closed by the corresponding valve when seated, the'pivotal axis of said arm being so located that the air valve has greater leverage than the water valve.

5. A, dry pipe valve comprising a casing, an arm pivotally mounted therein, outside of the waterway, an air valve carried by said arm, a water valve carried by the air valve at an oblique angle thereto, and valve seats ried bythe air valve at an obli ue angle thereto, and valve seats at each of which the waterway is closed by the corresponding valve when seated, said arm being connected to the air valve on the outlet side of the air valve seat and having its pivotal axis located on the inlet side of the plane of the water valve seat, out of but adjacent to the waterway.

7. A dry pipe valve comprising a casing containing an air valve seat arranged at an inclination with respect to the waterway and a water valve seat extending transversely with respect to the waterway, said seats being located one beyond the other with the waterway passing through both of them,

w i msmmm a transversely-extending water valve seat, said seats being located one above the other with the waterway passing through both of them, a pivotally-mounted arm located outside of the valve seats and movable toward and away from the latter, an air valve carried by said arm, and a water valve carried by the air valve.

9. A dry pipe valve comprising a casing providing an upwardly-extending waterway and containing a slanting air valve seat and a transversely-extending water valve seat, said seats being located one above the other with the waterway passing through both of them, an arm located outside of the valve seats and mounted to swing on a pivotal axis located below the water valve seat and adjacent to the waterway, an air valve carried by said arm, and a water valve carried by the air valve.

ALBERT J. LQEPSINGER.

Witnesses:

W. H. THURSTON, J. H. THURSTON. 

